9373. Come up unto Jehovah. That this signifies conjunction with the Lord, is evident from the signification of “coming up,” as being to be raised toward interior things (see n. 3084, 4539, 4969, 5406, 5817, 6007), consequently also to be conjoined (n. 8760). That it denotes conjunction with the Lord, is because by “Jehovah” in the Word is meant the the Lord, (n. 1343, 1736, 1793, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2921, 3023, 3035, 5663, 6280, 6303, 6905, 8274, 8864, 9315). A secret which also lies hidden in the internal sense of these words, is that the sons of Jacob, over whom Moses was the head, were not called and chosen; but they themselves insisted that Divine worship should be instituted among them (according to wh at has been said in n. 4290, 4293); and therefore it is here said, “and He said unto Moses, Come up unto Jehovah,” as if not Jehovah, but another, had said that he should come up. For the same reason in what follows it is said that “the people should not go up” (verse 2); and that “Jehovah sent not His hand unto the sons of Israel who were set apart” (verse 11); and that “the appearance of the glory of Jehovah was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the sons of Israel” (verse 17); and lastly that Moses, being called the seventh day, “entered into the midst of the cloud.” For by “the cloud” is meant the Word in the letter (n. 5922, 6343, 6752, 6832, 8106, 8443, 8781); and with the sons of Jacob the Word was separated from its internal sense, because they were in external worship without internal, as can be clearly seen from the fact that now, as before, they said, “all the words which Jehovah hath spoken we will do” (verse 3); and yet scarcely forty days afterward they worshiped a golden calf instead of Jehovah; which shows that this was hidden in their hearts while they were saying with their lips that they would serve Jehovah alone. But nevertheless those who are meant by “the called and the chosen” are those who are in internal worship, and who from internal worship are in external; that is, those who are in love to and faith in the Lord, and from this in love toward the neighbor.
True Christian Religion #634
634. But I shall make the truth known. When belief in three Gods was introduced into the Christian churches, something which happened from the time of the Council of Nicaea on, all the good of charity and all the truth of faith were banished. For these two are in no way compatible with worshipping three Gods in the mind while worshipping one God with the lips. For the mind denies what the lips speak, and the lips deny what the mind thinks. As a result neither is there belief in three Gods, nor in one. This makes it plain that the structure of the Christian church from that time began not merely to crack, but to collapse into rubble. From that time on the pit of the abyss was opened, and from it went up smoke as from a mighty furnace, the sun and the air were darkened, and from the smoke there came forth locusts upon the earth (Revelation 9:2-3). See the explanation of these verses in Apocalypse Revealed. In fact it was from this time that the desolation predicted by Daniel began and increased (Matthew 24:15); and it was that faith and its imputing that caused the eagles to gather (Matthew 24:28); eagles there stand for the leaders of the church with their sharp sight.
[2] If anyone says that this was decreed by the unanimous vote of the Council, in which so many bishops and distinguished scholars took part, how can one trust Councils, when Roman-Catholic Councils also unanimously arrived at the conclusions that the Pope is the vicar of Christ, that saints are to be invoked, images and bones venerated, the Holy Eucharist divided, that purgatory and indulgences and more besides exist? How can one trust councils, when that of Dort, also unanimously, voted in favour of predestination, a detestable heresy, and exalted it as the supreme object of religious veneration? Do not, reader, put your trust in Councils, but in the Holy Word. Approach the Lord and you will be enlightened. For He is the Word, that is to say, the very Divine truth in it.
Revelation 9:3-11
3
And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
4
And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
5
And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
6
And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
7
And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
8
And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
9
And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
10
And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.
11
And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.
